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Veteran rock producer Kevin Shirley has worked with everyone from Journey, Iron Maiden, and Led Zeppelin to the recent Black Country Communion album, and he’s seen his share of conflict and controversy in dealing with musicians and their foibles. In a new interview with Andrew McNeice of Melodic Rock, Shirley commented on the delicate relationship between bands and their producers.

“You’re not really friends,” Shirley reflected. “It’s a strange kind of friends thing going on there between the producer and the band.

“But, you know, I’m not here to make friends. I’m here to make music and I’m here to hopefully, in some respects, make history as well,” he said. “It’s one of those difficult things in the business where you work with people, you know, you live in people’s pockets for three months and then you don’t see them for four or five years, if you have a long term music relationship with them. While they are recording, they’re your best buddy, and when it comes to concert tickets, it’s like, ‘Speak to someone else.'”